Wicken Hill: stile
On an idyllic day - blue sky, light winds, warm sunshine and distant views - Frank H. Guy, Steve joined at the last minute by Andy replaced a very dilapidated stile on footpath Hebden Royd 025 just behind Wicken Hill House.
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| 1. Map. The blue tag marks the fence line and the site of the original stile. |
Today's work was funded by individual donations. Many thanks . . . and thanks too to local residents who not only permitted parking but also plied us with tea and coffee.
The detail.
This stile has been on the CROWS' job list for several months. The stile is now so dilapidated that a complete replacement is required.
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| 2. Stile before work began |
i. Both side-posts are rotten (completely) at ground level and only held up by the stockfence and side railings.
ii. Both treadboards are rotten and starting to fragment.
iii. The step legs are showing signs of decay and, in the case of the lower step, at an awkward height.
iv. The side-rails are only just attached and showing signs of decay at the ends.
The work begins:
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| 3. Taking out the old:- rusted stock fence, decayed side-post and badly spaced cross-rails. |
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| 4. Work in progress: Left side stock fence detached, new side-posts firmly embedded and old side-rails (now horizontal) recycled. |
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| 5. Old treadboards being removed. |
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| 6. New step legs being packed in place . . . and at the correct heights! |
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| 7. More packing and aligning - it's a teamwork task. |
The replacement treadboards were nailed in place. New (and horizontal) cross-rails were attached, at the optimum spacings, to the side-posts, and the stock fence was re-fixed and tensioned before the area around the stile was tidied and landscaped.
So! What do we ended up with? . . .
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| 8. Standard two-step stile with vertical side-posts, four horizontal cross-rails and a blue-skied background (latter not always available!) |
The task went smoothly. For once, the ground conditions were amenable and each stage of the construction went exactly according to Plan A! Mmm! That's a rare event.
The stile is safe, strong, stable, functional, aesthetically pleasing and as close to British Standards as we could get it!
More next Wednesday which is designated as 'clear-up day'. Could be interesting!